Risk Assessment and Patient Consent

Obtaining valid Consent

1. Risk Assessment: A patient-specific risk assessment should categorise patients as low, medium, or high risk based on various factors. This evaluation helps determine the appropriate treatment approach.
2. Informed Consent: Before initiating treatment, patients must be fully informed about:
   • Benefits and Risks: Discuss the advantages, potential complications, costs, and future maintenance needs of the treatment.
   • Alternative Treatments: Provide a fair and objective representation of all treatment options.
   • Patient Involvement: The informed consent process is ongoing, requiring continual communication between the clinician and patient. It involves more than just signing a consent form; patients should be kept informed about the treatment's progress and any modifying factors.
3. Treatment Options: Implant therapy is an elective and invasive treatment designed to aid prosthodontic rehabilitation. It is important to:
   • Present Alternatives: Offer a full range of treatment options, including conventional prosthodontics, removable prostheses, space closure, or no treatment if appropriate.
   • Document Alternatives: Record all discussed options and rationale in the patient’s dental records for future reference.
4. Modifying Factors: Consider and discuss general and local modifying factors that might affect treatment. These include:
   • Systemic Factors: Medical status, age, skills, patient preferences, and economic considerations.
   • Local Factors: Status of the remaining dentition, reasons for tooth loss, specific conditions of the treatment site, and evidence of parafunction.
5. Documentation: As an elective therapy, implant treatment requires comprehensive documentation of the informed consent in the patient's dental records. It is important to demonstrate that the informed consent is specific to the patient and their particular circumstances and that the consent is a continuing process throughout the patient's treatment. The wording of the consent form should therefore also be specific to the individual patient. The consent form should include all relevant information, conveyed in clear and neutral language, to ensure patient comprehension. The continuing informed consent process should be demonstrated in the patient's dental records by recording the details of ongoing communication between clinician and patient.

By ensuring thorough risk assessment and detailed informed consent, clinicians can better manage the complexities of dental implant treatment and enhance patient understanding and cooperation.